>> the dow up 21 points. 50 points or so. when the bear taffy is plowing through negative headlines can have to stop for a minute. cheryl: she was one of the few people short of the market, made a lot of money, faithful clientele underneath her. you have to wonder if there will be a pullback. dennis: let's not forget we are

rarely backed where we were in '07. cheryl: melissa and lori, you have another hour. melissa: dennis is always so optimistic. i love that. lori: it is a good balance. always need to opinions or more. melissa: good evening, everyone. lori: the dow about 150 points away from closing at an all-time high. more with us on why companies are not quite as optimistic. melissa: the freshman representative returns to tell us what he learned and if you still is hopeful he can break washington's bad habit. so i don't know. lori: but the market is waiting to hear from in the market. lou dobbs weighs in. melissa: nicole petallides standing by.

the dow at the height of the day right now. nicole: that is right. that is really where we are sitting at this time, the nasdaq composite slightly higher and a gain of one quarter of 1% the best they continue to watch the market trend to the upside so many traders waiting for some pullback yet they don't think it is coming this moment because we continue to move higher and higher. while a pullback is due, we will break our all-time highs for 2013. up almost 50 points. some names on the move after earnings. the first one we will focus on is avon products. they saw a quarterly loss that wasn't as bad as expected and they see demand. 20%. coca-cola coming in with their numbers beating the street revenue came in a little bit light, there was concerns in europe for coca-cola. the dow component down about 2.5% at this moment.

the fear index has pulled back a little bit. lots of green on the screen from sector to sector. melissa: thank you so much. lori: u.s. companies have a different outlook, almost 70% of the companies that have issued guidance for the first quarter are anticipating negative earnings. investors perhaps are not? joining me now, senior manager of global market intelligence, before we get to the earnings news i hear you guys are getting back into your offices which were so badly damaged after hurricane sandy, how is that working out? >> beginning next week we will start filtering in. lori: you haven't stopped for a second, analyzing all of these numbers, so why are so many companies warning us in the first quarter? >> we have seen this in the past quarter, the disparity between what investors are seeing and what the companies themselves

are seeing. we see investors pay more attention to economic indicato indicators, pmi was up, same-store retail sales, overall a pretty decent fourth quarter earnings season. going forward for the first half of the year, 58 companies have provided negative guidance compared to 22 positive. negative to positive ratio very high. lori: where' where is it going o change? >> many companies have said we do see a strengthening u.s. economy but it is still very weak. and we are seeing china although it is improving modestly, double nazi the same profits out of china was so into thousand 10, 2011. really just more of the same weakness and the year-over-year comparison. 2011, beginning 2012.

lori: stay tuned for u.s. economy delivered expectations for record corporate earnings for the balance of 2013. if you were looking at a weaker first quarter, companies should make up ground through the air, that the basis? speaker expecting fourth-quarter to pose almost $30 per share. little lofty at this point. record earnings per share. it would be a record. the growth sort of on the average aside, we are posting record earnings per share. lori: investment managers have been telling us how fairly valued the overall market is. would you agree generally with that assessment? >> we're looking forward pe of 14, the less than 14, so he averages 15. a bit undervalued for the s&p at 1500 right now.

lori: if earnings come in disappointing in the first quarter, how do you change your outlook on the broader valuation of the outlook? to see the market will believe you are lagging on that reaction to whatever happens in the first quarter by way of earnings? >> despite the fact they have seen estimates follow it, we would get 26, $27 per share, still quite high historically and global market intelligence is expecting the s&p to write about 1600 by the end of the year. giving us a pe closer to the 15 historical level we have seen. lori: our focus is earnings and market, but the federal reserve to me cannot be that out of the equation. >> it looks like a fed is doing now with stimulus efforts. we are seeing investors react, the fed has held steady giving investors the confidence they need to bring the market higher. they do need to continue with that throughout 2000 o 2014.

have lori: have a great afterno. small business optimism rising last month according to the national federation of independent business. small business operation index edged higher by nearly 8%. 88.9. although the slight game was the second straight month of gain, keep in perspective, folks. small business optimism near record lows. three subindexes that posted gains, earnings and business conditions and sales still remain negative. cannot say that is too much of a surprise. melissa: what i loved about that survey, an average they hired nine/100 of the worker. how does that work, exactly? >lori: these economists are very technical minded.

melissa: would you be offended if somebody calls you three/100 other worker? lori: i have been called much worse, today in fact. how optimistic is the chief economist? he will join tracy byrnes and ash webster next hour on fox business. melissa: president obama laying out plans for his second term and such to focus on the economy, you would hope. peter barnes at the white house with the latest. peter: the president has taken his traditional walk from the west wing down the colony to the residents that he takes every year working on his state of the union speech. joined by senior aides today, and this speech tonight will have a pretty familiar blueprint to a lot of voters, he expected to look and talk about getting a balanced approach to deficit-reduction and getting money from higher tax revenues as well as spending cuts but he is focusing on mice,

manufacturing, improving manufacturing in the united states, continued investment in education and infrastructure, and clean energy. one of his senior economic advisors said there is only one that the president is focused on. melissa: it is true it will be about the m word. middle class. investing in the ingredients that make our country a magnet. we are in a global economy, it is important we have the infrastructure, innovation, the fiscal stability, the skills that attract the jobs of the future. that would be a very central focus of the state o state of tn at night. peter: house speaker john boehner said he expects a partisan speech tonight and when asked about the president and whether he is serious on spending cuts, "i don't think he has the guts to do it, he

doesn't have the courage to take on the liberal side of his own party, never has." melissa: i thought middle class was one word. interesting. don't go anywhere, lou dobbs weighs in on a state of the union address in what he hopes to hear from the president. lori: charles payne called it, shares of michael kors skyrocketing after on the earnings. melissa: and apple on the defense, tim cook sounded off on why cash isn't burning a hole in the company's pockets. lori: gold is unchanged, but silver and copper are trading higher. we will be back after this. look, if you have copd like me,

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victory lap. because we have to show you. look at that. melissa: a fashion show. charles: all the women around here have michael kors watches. buy this stock, buy this stock, at an all-time high. exploded on earnings by 56%, the thing is it is crazy because it is not a cheap stock. the street is rewarding it for book, whole bunch of market share. the classic short squeeze as well. it will go beyond the real value at som sometime, but for now its amazing chemistry think it will outperform the industry for the next five years. fossil is another name.

they cut a deal. that is your girl, going back and forth, rooting for the ex-husband. melissa: a complete rip off of her. lori: right across from one another, virtually the same thing. charles: i forgot what magazine where she ripped off everyone else, so he ripped her off and ripped off everyone else. there you have it. fossil not at a 52-week high. who knows. if you're in michael kors, you have to ride the wave. anybody listening to me, hang on and ride the wave. lori: why do i feel like he is

talking directly to me? charles: because your watch is so beautiful. that is what happens when you are rich, don't worry about stuff like that. lori: do you want to help manage my huge fortune? melissa: thank you so much. lori: every 15 minutes, let's check in with nicole at the floor of the new york stock exchange watching a mortgage etf. nicole: take a look at the exchange traded fund. you can see right now off about a half a percent. started 2013 in a very nice way. it has a 30 day s&p yield of nearly 12%, expense ratio appears to be quite reasonable. we have seen it on an upswing this year, and so this is a way you can get into real estate funds, a mutual fund and inflow

into real estate exchange traded funds combined 4 billion. another way to play the real estate game if you're interested. lorimelissa: interesting, thanku so much. lori: apple ceo tim cook speaking at the claims the tech giant has a depression era mentality with its cash. storing cached reserve on the balance sheet is significant. listen. >> this is a waste of shareholder money, and it is a distraction, and it is not a seminal issue for apple. that said, i support it, i am personally going to vote for it. lori: greenlight capital is suing to block the prompts

imac proposition t two. melissa: soon it'll be a throw down. lori: that is kind of the nature of these things these days. people are so outspoken. the cash on hand at apple is huge, the share precipitous decline of late, over $700, they should do something for shareholders. just saying. the crippled carnival cruise ship now movie but little progress for passengers aboard. melissa: plus, lou dobbs with what you should be watching for in tonight's state of the union address. and take a look at how the dollar is faring in the upmarket. we will be right back. i'm a conservative investor.

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>> 21 minutes past the hour, hello, everyone. your fox news minutes. the state department receiving advance notice from north korea it intended to conduct nuclear test. the notice came through usual channels according to state department from victoria newland.

but did not cite any specific timing. china, russia and the u.n. security council have all condemned north korea's underground tests on that nuclear device. voting on chuck hagel, nation to become defense secretary. the vietnam combat vet is facing opposition from fellow republicans for the vote and statements on israel. iran, iraq had nuclear weapons. in new orleans a little rain isn't dampening the mardi gras spirit on bourbon street, the parade began around dawn and rolled to french quarters keeping some people away. a quick look at your headlines, back to you, melissa and lori. melissa: happy fat tuesday. president obama expected to push for investments in tonight's state of the union address. even as the national moves hours on spending, investments.

a fox news poll say cutting spending will be more likely to help strengthen the nation's economy compared to 13% who believe increased spending or investments would do the trick. will the policy be swayed by tonight's address? time now for the dobbs. lou: for the audience, it is perhaps of interest, person who started this term of investments about spending was none other than william jefferson clinton. he had such great success with it in one way or another every president since has used this term of art, this device. but anyway, we will hear more of that nonsense tonight as lori and melissa were saying means spending. most americans see it as a way

to strengthen the economy, restore prosperity begins with taking care of the spending problem, getting rid of the deficitdeficit and paying down e debt. melissa: was i investing? have i been doing this wrong and speaking about it in correctly all the time? a whole bunch of them as he put it, you are set for life, i am sure. i am not sure i can quite figure out how you work through the algorithm on spending, but i know this, it is helpful to the economy and helpful to the manufacturers and i am all for it, keep it moving. when it comes to public spending like to see significant restraint.

lori: putting the gdp debt up, it is amazing to me how little concern washington has about not necessarily deficits going back and forth, but the national debt. if yowe have consistent growth t this level, it is shocking. melissa: this administration, this president and his good deputies are ignoring the reality the first report on gdp for the fourth quarter was a contraction last year. ignoring $16.5 trillion in debt, ignoring the reality this is the weakest recovery from recession since the great depression, it is the worst five years in economic terms since the great depression, and we have people running around in washington, d.c., cute little people who think they can ignore the reality and avoid, secretary of state clinton talking about

those critics of the benghazi of soda so they don't live in an empirical world like we do here in washington. it demands people understand we have 23 million people unemployed, this president is pivoting again tonight, we're told he will be aggressive and bold. i haven't heard from any of a single, new, original idea from this administration and i will bet you $5 right here and now that we won't hear a single idea that is new or fresh or likely effective. lori: if you have a couple more minutes come your take on marco rubio getting a response and doing a bilingual response. that could be construed as pandering. lou: it is pandering but that is part of the game republicans are now engaged in. they are going to fight the democrats for the hispanic

american vote. power to them because what does that cost? that isn't a significant price. he is clear he is for people who insist upon border security has moved toward legalization process. i think it is smart, it has to be done and the republicans have got to engage not only going after the hispanic american vote but how about all those other votes they left on the sidelines in 2012. they have to get engaged and i think he might be just the ticket, as they say, to get it going. melissa: thank you. talking about the response to the state of the union. expecting so much tonight, it is

a lot of pressure. lou: i hope they keep selling it high. you're probably going, but i will say thank you all, thank you. melissa: illest massive budget problems forcing the state to get creative. a new push to tax sneakers. can washington break its bad habits? joining us with what he has learned during his first term in office. this is $100,000.

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lori: the dow is holding up above the key 14,000 mark t has been 15 minutes since we last checked in on the floor of the new york stock exchange and nicole petallides. nicole. >> we continue to push through the highs of the day. right now we're sitting at 14,36. we've seen a lot of green on the screen. when talk about financials you have to talk about citigroup. basically on this poured, we have wells fargo, citigroup, morgan stanley and bank of new york mellon. all up arrows for all the financials. city group in particular up the last six months is up 50%. today it is hitting an annual high. that goes along with some of the other names, including jpmorgan, new 52-week high. how about goldman sachs? new 52-week high.

bank of america, i checked it a moment ago. it is sitting at 12.20. 12.20 is annual high. another penny it will be at a 52-week high. the dow jones industrials are up 65 points when you talk to people on wall street they say these rallies can not exist without the financials and how crucial they are to the moves that we see in these markets. today, right now, you are seeing some great performance. we took the time to just show you some of those names on the move, citigroup, goldman sachs, here at 52-week highs. people are celebrating if they're long this market. back to you. melissa: nicole, thanks so much. so it has been a little over a month since freshman congressman mark mullen of oklahoma was sworn in. at that time he told us that d.c. was a lot like disneyland. those in washington need to work across the aisle to make things happen. has any progress been made? let's head to washington for a freshman perspective from congressman wail mullen.

what do you think? has the impression changed at all. >> a little bit. disney world and washington is big difference. disney world pays their bills. this is the busiest town i ever been in my life that gets nothing done. i'm used to being productive. i run my own business for 15 years. at end of the day you like to see accomplishment. all you see here is pointing fingers. melissa: can you do anything about it? yell at the guys and tell them there is no way to do business? >> you don't yell. are we here for ourselves or the generation behind us. in my opinion only reason i'm here is because of my kids. i want to leave a better place than what i had handed to me. if we keep bickering with each other and we'll ruin this country and hand our kids something that is less than valuable. the generations ahead of us handed us something on a gold platter said, here it is. only thing you have to do is make sure you take care of it and we've been --. melissa: do you have this conversation on a daily

basis with other people? do you say this to your fellow congressman and women? >> absolutely. melissa: what do they say? >> freshman democrats and freshman republicans all agree. there has been a big change over the last two years who is walking in these halls and who is walking on the floor. what it is, we've got to get everybody's attention and realize we dug in deep enough. both parts dug in deep enough. we pointed fingers long enough. it is time to come up with real solutions. not worry about party politics but country politics first. melissa: if you have other freshman who kind of agree with you is there a chance you can get enough people together to make a difference? or what's going to happen? >> melissa, i'm a very optimistic guy. my glass is always half full. i didn't come up here just to idle and stand out and hold down a seat. and so absolutely there's a lot of people that feel the same way i do. this isn't just republican thing or democrat thing either. look, we've had our party leaders on both sides really dig in deep and it's going

to be up to the members to get this country back on track. i believe we will. it will take time though. i think that is one thing i have to realize. i had to take a very deep breath which my wife is very hard for me to do and realize i'm in a fight. this is a fight we're fighting for. melissa: so let's take the sequestration for example, because that is sort of at the top of everyone's list of hurdles where both sides can't seem to come together and agree at something. are you very frustrated on that front? are you getting any closer? what do you think will happen with that in particular? >> first of all this is government at its best. you have the president up there blaming the republican party and what is funny this is the president's idea to begin with. but the way government plays instead of looking at good programs and bad programs they want to be politically correct which it is political correctness killing this country, they want to wave a magic wand, all programs are treated the same. why don't we take a business approach like we do in all

companies. look at things that are working and reward them and get rid of things that aren't working. there are a lot of programs in our government that makes no sense. a lot of duplicate programs, our own senator from the great state of oklahoma, pointed it out, senator coburn and the senate wouldn't pick it up. instead we'll cut across the board and hurt things that really mean a lot to people that --. melissa: congressman, is there something you can do about that in the short term? can you get a group of people, get out a pencil, get out a calculator and figure out what is not working? i agree with everything you're saying but actually acting on that from washington from the outside looks impossible. i hope from the inside is different? >> i wish i could give you a big speech and say yes but unfortunately i don't think it will happen in the near future. i think we'll see possibly the cuts are going to happen. it will get everybody's attention. both side of the aisle, republicans and democrat. we'll realize we have to fix some things here. then, hopefully a few months down the road we'll start seeing some real progress.

melissa: congressman mullin. thanks for checking in. i hope you come back and give us another report card soon. >> melissa, i appreciate the opportunity the i would like to be back whenever you can have me. melissa: okay, great. keep it here on fox business for complete coverage and analysis of the tonight's state of the union beginning with neil coo vaught toe at 8:00 p.m. eastern -- neil cavuto. >> charlie gasparino has exclude sieve detail on sac chief steve cohen. melissa: the latest on the ship's condition just ahead. a look at the ten year and 30-year as we head out to break here. you can see the yield rising on the 10-year. we'll be right back.

today is gonna be an important day for us. you ready? we wanna be our brother's keeper. wh's number two we wanna do? bring it up to 90 decatherms. how bout ya, joe? let's go ahead and bring it online. attention on site, attention on site. some of the world's ncleanest gas turbines. are now powering some of america's biggest cities. siemens. answers. gives you 1% cash back on all purchases, plus a 50% annual bonus. and everyone but her likes 50% more cash, but i have an idea. do you want a princess dress? yes.

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better, then that would be of interest. >> and overstock.com announcing its ceo patrick byrne will be taking a temporary leave of absence for medical reasons. overstock president jonathan precedent will serve as the acting ceo. thaa is the latest from the fox business network, giving you the power to prosper.

lori: a significant change coming to sac capital. it is all in an effort to soften the blow of the results for wide-ranging insider trading probe. charlie gasparino joins us with ex-class sieve details. -- exclusive details. >> not necessarily the probe but impact on the probe. major redemptions likely to come on valentine's day. 14th of february when you can start demanding your money back. here is what sac will do to soften that. anywhere could be one to two

billion dollars. i don't know where they get the numbers. we know it will be a lot. what they plan on doing is soft reopening of major sac fund, $14 billion fund that has been closed since 2011. there will be a soft reopening. meaning some investors from what i understand will be able to put money back in. you can get money back into the fund. add money back into the fund. who are these investors? from what i understand it's a limited number. they're very high net worth people. their best customers. they are going to be able to put more money in. this is a essentially a step to basically soften the impact when you have money coming out, they want to put some money coming in. they want to keep the $14 billion under management. how much will they allow to be put in, allow people to put in, the people that they select? from what i understand it all depends how much money comes out. when will they know how much money comes out? that will be determined in, at the end. far from what i understand because it is sort of -- apparently you can start demanding money out now.

what is known asala liquidity schedule is arranged. you won't know the impact until about a month and a half away. around march 31st they will tell people who want to put money in, who they believe qualify as their best customers from what i understand, you can put money and here is how much money you can put in. this is a significant change for sac capital. it is pretty big when they closed the fund. a lot of companies when they got to $14 billion, you know, it is double-edged sword. you want more money in because you want fees, right. sac takes three and 50. melissa: wow!. >> 3% on management fee. 50% of the profits. they still return from what i understand since 199626%. melissa: hence the investigation. >> hence the investigation. because that beats all all market averages. my point is people would like to put more money in. they stopped in 2011. now they will be able to put more money in. the reason why, they want to

soften the blow of the redemptions. i think it is a significant story. my view is, smaller fund do better but clearly he likes the money coming in. he likes to be running 14 billion. we'll see how much money comes out. we won't know exactly how much money is flowing out of this thing. i guess they will have some idea by people like saying, on the 14th but they won't know the full impact until the end of march. that is when, from what i understand, this soft reopening, not everybody but, top clients, are available to put some more money into it. melissa: we'll see. lori: try to come up with a stupid pun on soft but i failed miserably obviously. >> don't get me going. lori: youly do. >> yes. melissa: it is quarter to. as we do every fifth teach minutes, nicole petallides on the floor of the new york stock exchange. >> ahead of the report coming out in the 4:00 p.m. show, we're looking at

buffalo wild wings, bank rate and tanger factory outlet. all three names have up arrows. buffalo wild wings is the best of the bunch up nearly 5% ahead of its quarterly report. you do see up arrows on a day where we're really testing these highs at 14,036. we'll continue to watch these three names. it is so telling when each one of these names reports. for example, we had michael kors came out with their number showing great demand and avon products the same bit. when the companies cut costs or give outlooks that are stellar you see really big moves. we'll continue to watch buffalo wild wings, bank rate and tanger reporting in the four, back to you. melissa: keep it right here on fox business for complete earns coverage on "after the bell" with david asman and liz claman at 4:00 p.m. eastern. it is the trip that just

won't end. 4 thou people are still stranded aboard a carnival cruise ship in the gulf of mexico. lori: looks great from here. melissa: they're saying the vessel will be towed to mow bee, alabama. carnival's triumph originally planned to take the stranded passengers to mexico and fly them home. but the gulf's currents changed their plan. foul smells, limited running water, makes conditions just miserable for those trapped on board. the passengers and crew have been stuck in the water since the engine fire on sunday. snoert of these disasters story hitting carnival shares although not done as much -- it is up in that chart overall. you can see the dip that came over the weekend when we found out about this. the stock has recovered and back today by 1%. look at the hit it took on monday. stocks nearing an all-time high. we have got you covered. plus the u.s. drought is taking its toll. we're live in the pits of the cme as causing shut down

of ethanol production. lori: a plan to raise money for a debt ridden state is next. ♪ .

can lori: direct your attention to the dow jones industrial average. we're pushing session highs with a gain of right now of 62 points, coming ever so close to the all-time closing high of 14,164.53 to

be exact. we still have at least two hours, more than two hours left of this trading session. so look into your crystal ball, folks. decide where this one's going to wrap up. melissa: you look at some of the things leading the dow higher right now. bank of america is one of the stocks leading the way. as we showed you on the screen you can keep track there how far away we are on the all-time high. lori: only three decliners one unchanged. positive sentiment and we have got you covered. a close eye on the dow as it approaches record territory. melissa: 14,154.63 if you want to be exact. that is the previous high we're watching right now. rising corn prices are putting ethanol producers as plants around the country are shutting down. jeff flock is in the pits of the cme in chicago with more. jeff? >> it is a heck of an irony, isn't it, melissa. they blame ethanol producers for driving up prices and rightly so. so the price is so high it

is putting ethanol producers out of business. i have scott shell lady. you feed cattle to the hogs, and feed it to people or make ethanol out of it. scott we're doing more ethanol making than feeding to cows or people, correct? >> something to do with a government mandate i think. >> you love that. look what is happening though as a result of this. take a look at this map. we have 20 ethanol plants now, shut down, five in the last month alone. these guys can't make money at $7 corn. >> it is a procurement problem. the same amount of people are fighting for less and less corn because we couldn't get any bushels last year. >> gotcha. ironically today we have a pullback in the grains market. if you look at corn now, back below $7 for the first time, i guess it touched a little bit below earlier this month, but mainly we've had $7 corn for the last 6'8" months. >> and it doesn't look to be moving any where soon. we have a negative report on friday. we don't have any big news

until planting intentions coming in march. >> it comes down to this, scott. if we get another drought is there any way that the president can continue the ethanol mandate? that is, 10% of our gasoline has to be ethanol? is there any way you keep that up if you get another drought? how high could corn go. >> 40% of the our balance sheet this year went to ethanol. if we do that again next year, that will drive prices higher for energy. i don't know if two years means you erase a mandate. these things don't last forever. at some point in time it will get loosened up. we do grow corn every year. >> that's true. hopefully we'll grow more this year. that is actually soybean meal and soybean oil pits. i love to walk in the ag pits. you have a crazy things. scott knows them all. anybody wearing a coat like that knows his ags. >> that is not talking about what it is doing to the price of gasoline. we're seeing a new record. the highest price at the pump we've seen on this day

of the year ever. no doubt ethanol is contributing to that as -- >> 10%. melissa: part of the blend. >> absolutely, right? >> they want to raise it to 15% too. do the math on that one too. exactly. melissa: we're looking at new york rbob gasoline, the futures contract. even higher yet again today. jeff flock, thank you so much. >> thanks, melissa. lori: forget a soda tax. an illinois bill could impose a 25 cent tax on the purchase of athletic shoes. according to the bill's sponsor, representative william davis, the tax would bring in million a year and go toward nonprofit youth programs. while we're getting used to sin taxes on everything from soda to tanning but now tennis shoes? what will they tax next? 25 cents a pair of shoes will not set you back. sends a message. melissa: you tax what you want to discourage. slap another tax on sneakers. lori: haven't you ever been to the store would you like to donate 50 cents to a charity. melissa: donation as opposed

to a tax. that is the donate if you believe in it. lori: key difference but for something like that. melissa: all right. coming up tonight on "money" we have the ceo of tesla motors elon musk. he will join me to talk about the fake "new york times" review of the tessa s. he said, they came in. they did their test. it was relatively scathing. he looked at the car and yeah, it is "new york times." when they looked at it, wait a second, we don't even think they performed the test. it will be very interesting. we'll drill down on those details and zoo who's right. lori: still to come, it is a critical night as you know for the president. fox business managing editor neil cavuto previews the state of the union with tracy byrnes and ashley webster. all this as we watch the dow approach record territory. stay with us. fox business continues. ♪

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ashley: good afternoon, everybody, i'm ashley webster. tracy: and i'm tracy byrnes. president obama is set to outline his priorities tonight in the state of the union address but how are these markets going to react because right now the dow is back above 14,000, the sun is shining, could be better? fox senior vice president and managing editor neil cavalleri will join us in moments. ashley: nothing is get bet. will they have a chance of passing the republican controlled house? congressman darrell issa from california will weigh in ahead. tracy: i'm sure he has a lot to say too. america's job createtors are still not ready to hire. when will small businesses gain confidence in the economy? national federation of independent chief economist bill dunkelberg is here to tell us, the dung. first breaking news on the

federal budget. peter barnes has the latest numbers. peter? >> that's right, ashley. we have the monthly treasury report and there was a budget surplus in the month of january. $3 billion. we haven't seen that since april last year when we saw, you know, tax payments made into the government in april. well this january, there were more tax payments made in because of the expiration of the payroll tax cut and the new higher tax rates on wealthier families, those families making over $450,000 a year. so a budget surplus of $3 billion for the month of january compared to a $127 billion deficit in january a year ago -- 27. first four months of the fiscal year, the deficit was $290 billion, compared to 340 billion, 349 billion rather a year earlier so the deficit shrinking year-over-year as well, down about $60 billion. and, as you recall, for the

year, the congressional budget office does expect fiscal 2013 now to come in at a deficit of below a trillion dollars for the first time in four years here at around 845 billion. still a big number, but, some progress on that front, mainly because of these higher tax revenues that are coming in now. ashley and tracy, back to you. ashley: budget surplus. what is the heck is that? tracy: a oxymoron. ashley: peter barnes in d.c. thanks very much. >> okay. >> thanks, peter. it is top of the hour. so it is time for stocks. let's go down to the floor of the new york stock exchange to nicole petallides. dow is over 14,000. that is pretty good news. >> can you feel it? it is pretty hot in here. we have new intraday highs we haven't seen in five years. there we are, 14,33. not too far off from the all-time closing high about 130 points away. thanks to the thermometer

doing a quick math. thanks to the levels that we hit at new intraday highs. it has been helped by financials. we have some of the names like citigroup and goldman sachs, some of those financials that have been helping to move the entire market to the upside. you have broad based moves to the upside, retailers, drugs, banks, oil services all with up arrows. we'll look a couple names with up arrows, avon products and coors. avon products when you think of cosmetics and creams alike, up 21%. they have been cutting jobs, cutting costs. they came in with numbers that weren't as bad as expected. actually better than expected. you see the biggest move in nearly a year intraday. however not an annual high. and then that brings in michael kors when you think handbags and act secondries and such, michael kors up 10%. new all-time high for michael kors on really obviously stellar demand for their products. back to you. tracy: thanks, nicole. we'll see you in 15 minutes. my guess nicole is wearing

michael kors as we speak. ashley: probably a possibility. there you go. president obama will lay out his agenda for his second term in his state of the union address. joining us now with a preview is fox business senior vice president and managing editor kneel neil cavuto. great to have you on set. what can we expect from the president tonight into. >> i'm one of the few that found peter barnes distressing, that it might mean the president and others might seize not to cut, there is no reason to cut. we had a good month the first four months. the deficit isn't as bad as we thought it would be for the fiscal year. it will take the spending cutting resolve off the table. we've already gotten indications of this from the white house showing that they feel they have met most of their debt commitments with this 4 trillion in cuts that they need supposedly. they have 1 1/2 trillion from that

game done. i like someone has to lose 100 pounds, loses 10 pounds, i can stop now. for apparently people that are overweight this is an issue. i found it remarkable and find it remarkable all the more that this whole country has to go on a fiscal diet and where whooping up some progress in the first week, if you will. and i think celebrating a balancing we've won and we're done, as i think might be the reaction from this report, it us going to be a mistake because last time i checked, we still have 63 trillion dollars in debt. under the best scenarios this 4 trillion is over 10 years. we'll still have ex-soes of 20 trillion in debt when all said and done. it is getting bigger. because we're not as big as we thought we would be we're hardly twiggy. tracy: peter barnes said part of the reason we did okay was increased tax

revenue. this is fodder to increase it some more. >> you read my mind there, what little there is of it. i said tax hikes are the reason. argue the point, stock market. i don't know all the details of that report. i will say this, i'm worried we attach all the wrong reasons to what will be a at best a flippant report. and then, we will say, well there is no reason to cut spending. there is no reason to go crazy we're seeing the market improve. we're seeing the dow as you guys report race it a record. we're seeing corporate earnings doing respectably well and earnings coming in a tad better than expected. if we're not off to the races we're at least off the ledge. quit this talk of having to cut, cut, cut. as you guys mentioned many times, when is the time to cut? if not now when things are getting better, if not couple years ago when things are really bad, when is the opportunity? this was the right time to raise taxes. you felt pretty confident about that?

do we ever cut? i liken it, the moment that you get a new job or get a raise and you think, well, now, i'm okay with my visa and mastercard maxed out to the limit. it doesn't take away i the fact that your visa and mastercard are maxed out to the limit. so we as a nation are in that quandary right now. we're not doing a damn about it. ashley: what kind of tone do you expect from the president, neil? there are those that he says the republicans as vulnerable, as split. they caved on the debt ceiling issue. >> you're right. he definitely thinks he has their number and he will act like it. i do think there is a notion that i think you know every winning party, every second-term president i think, every victorious party in general overplays its hands, right? george bush did when he was reelected. republicans did when they seized control in 2010 of the house. i think, democrats know this feeling well. they always overplay their hand. they always read too much in

an election. as i try to remind people. the president won an election, one of the consequences of which was raising taxes on the well to do. i think that is a fair consequence of an election he won and campaigned on that. he didn't win on the notion that he shouldn't address the ills of spending and debt that piled up to the degree they have. so a pox on both parties if they fail at this moment to seize this. but my worry about this otherwise very good news on the budget numbers is we're going to use it as an excuse not to address budget issues because we feel we've gotten a pass. because you lucked out with a lucky grade on an exam doesn't make you einstein. i think we should realize that. ashley: you're talking about me? that would be true. >> come on, mr. 4.0. ashley: oh, in my dreams. neil, thanks so much for being here. >> thanks, buddy. ashley: which should mention neil will have complete coverage and analysis of the state of the union starting 8:00 p.m. eastern time right here on fox business. do not miss it. tracy: no. he is on till 11.

get your popcorn out. all right. so what do republicans want to hear from the president tonight? congressman darrell issa from california is going to share his take ahead. ashley: coming up small business's confidence near record lows. nfib chief economist bill dunkelberg, the dung, weighing in on what america's job creators feel the most. look how oil is trading. dow is up 62 points. guess what, oil heading higher. starting to have an impact at the pump. $97.73 a barrel. we'll be right back. twins. i didn't see them coming. i have obligations. cute obligations, but obligations.

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ashley: it is time to make money with charles payne. this hour he has one of our favorites, a dirty fingernail stock. we love these. call this is the great story of an american farmer. >> it is an american farmer/construction company.

terex is an interesting play. it is a global play. north american 35%. western europe, 18%. other 13 which is one of the reasons i'm excited about this. if you look on paper the last time they reported, might be a little early but i think is one of these instances where the stock is actually starting to move before the fundamentals actually improve. you know the stock, we broke out to a new 52-week high on very convincing volume. this is what i call a true breakout. their main businesses are aerial work platforms, material handling, cranes, construction equipment. ashley: they do a bunch of stuff. >> this is really dirty fingernail stuff. ashley: yeah. >> this is why i like it. i love the world. i love what is happening around the world. also in america, we have state of the union. we know one of the key things will be infrastructure, infrastructure. it will be push back against it. face it there will be a lot of money poured into a lot of this stuff. a lot will end up this company's pockets in non-residential construction.

global i like as well. margins will improve. this stock used to be $89 a share back in 2007. ashley: whoa. >> got room to the upside. for people who feel like golly, i'm chasing it. ashley: 35 bucks a 52-week high you still like isn't. >> i still like it. my target is 43. it is more of a buy and hold idea. i think it is worth it. it is a blue chip name. people are grappling with the market with new all-time highs you have to make a decision on buying a lot of stocks at new 52-week highs. so anybody out there who pulls up a chart and you feel don't want to chase, might talk yourself out of a lot of good names. pull out a five-year chart. might see better room to the upside. tracy: that's a good point. over the last five years it is down. >> right. a lot of people will look at it like i missed it. and i don't think you did. tracy: charles and his dirty fingernail rally. i like it. >> terex. tracy: we have a lot of dirty fingernails in my house. ashley: we don't want to hear that.

tracy: all right. we've got a couple of internet leaders are putting money to work but in very different ways. facebook ceo mark zuckerberg and his wife donated $500 million to the silicon valley community foundation last year, making them, believe it or not, the second biggest charitable donors of the year just behind warren buffett. and how about this for, well, not being philanthropic? google ceo larry page and company cofounder sergey brin want to spend $82 million for google's own airport. oh, yeah. ashley: why not. tracy: the company's top execs including page, brin and eric schmidt reportedly have at least eight jets between them. ashley: why eight? tracy: this was my question. ashley: that is a good question. why eight. >> apparently they want to take a piece of the airport and put their own little hangar and maybe coffee shop, who knows, whatever. ashley: life is good. tracy: they need a place for eight jets. i wonder why you need more than one. ashley: send them out to

pick friends up and relatives. >> you have a more than one pair of jimmy choos, right? ashley: look at that. tracy: no, no, come on. >> lubatan. en klein? ashley: let everyone ponder that. it is quarter past, time to check on the markets. nicole petallides on the floor of the nyse where we go every sfist teen minutes. -- 15 minutes. dow is at session highs. >> if you're want to see the markets pig out, the all-time highs we established back in 2007. right around the time we juan muched -- launched the fox business network. not too far off the levels. the current value is 14,031. the all-time high is 14,164. again about 133 points away from those levels. we were a few points higher a short time ago. we have lost seven of our points. we have to talk about the fact that we continue to stay here to the upside. so many names hitting fifth highses, all-time highsed.

bullish feeling on wall street certainly at the moment. back to you. tracy: thanks, nicole. we'll see you in 15 minutes. i do not have multiple pairs of shoes because i have multiple dance payments every month and children that need money. ashley: that's right. tracy: american small businesses are struggling to bounce back from the recession. nfib chief economist bill dunkelberg tells us the biggest issues holding them back. ashley: but it is worth it, tracy. tracy: yeah. ashley: republican congressman darrell eisnaugle is a will weigh in what president obama obama should say or not say in tonight's address. we'll look at currencies. euro up against the dollar. meanwhile the pound is down. all the currencies up against the u.s. dollar. we'll be right back. all stations come over to mission a for a final go.

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>> at 21 minutes past the hour hello, everybody, i'm uma pemmaraju with your fox news minute. north korea notified the state department in ad it intended to conduct a nuclear test according to state department spokeswoman victoria knew land. it came through quote the usual channels but didn't

cite any specific timing. china, russia, and u.n. security council sell condemned the test of an underground device. a second tugboat reached the disabled carnival cruise ship floating in the gulf of mexico this hour. 4,000 passengers and crew have been stranded there since an engine fire on sunday. the tugboats will toe the ship to mobile, alabama and should arrive by thirst. the international olympic committee announcing it will drop wrestling from the 2020 olympic games. wrestling has been an olympic event since the first modern games began in 1896. that is look at the news this hour. ashley, back to you. ashley: fox news's uma pemmaraju. thank you very much. >> you're welcome. tracy: the latest reading on small business optimism shows owners are feeling little bit, i say a little bit more hopeful. despite the increase our next guest says small businesses are still struggling. joining us bill dunkelberg,

nfib chief economist. bill, you say the outlook is still really grim. >> the outlook is grim. unfortunately we looked the index value went up .9 of a point to december, to 88.9. that is so far below the average of 2008 which is still 100. we're still at recession levels readings. we have a bifurcated economy. big firms with record profits as share of gdp, make a lot of money. look at the stock market. that is half of the economy. that is the big half. the other half of the economy which is all small firms, they're not doing well at all. if they were publicly-traded the stock market would not look very well at all. it is a bifurcated economy. coke made all its money not in the u.s., overseas. that is the problem. our firms are domestic. consumer spending is very, very wimpy. it is not going anywhere. consequently they're not going anywhere. tracy: that is what it is still all about, sales. they are not getting the

sales they're looking for. we get retail numbers out tomorrow. it will be interesting to see how the payroll tax affected sales now in 2013. >> that's right. and of course those sales numbers we get will be mostly from big firms, big department stores and wal-mart which is important because wal-mart has services a very broad spectrum of consumers, one of my favorite places to go. but we'll have to see where the sales are for all these small firms. you know, my barbershop has five chairs. only three are full. they used to be five. i mean we need more business at all these small force so they will rehire people and get back to the 2007 levels of employment. that is our key problem. tracy: that's what you said in your notes too. economists often say we need new firms out there, we need new businesses but you're saying it is all about the guys out there already. we have to get them hiring first. >> exactly. the 8 million people that who lost their job in the recession weren't fired by new firms. they were fired by existing firms. tracy: right. >> and we need to get their employment level back up and

it will happen gradually but it is a very, very slow process you now. they're still really uncertain about the economy. now a lot of people are criticizing the use of that term and they say, well we always have uncertainty. yeah, we do. uncertainty is not a constant. it's a variable and right now it is pretty high. there is still a lot of stuff that has to be resolved. to see whether or not the u.s. economy and the management team of the economy can get us on a good path. tracy: we have got higher taxes for these guys. we have got health insurance costs basically preventing them from hiring more than 50 people. what do you think they would like to hear tonight during the president's state of the union? >> well i think they would like to hear the president say, look, i understand spending really got ramped up and we can't really afford that as a share of gdp. we know tax revenues are very low. part of that is because there are some unemployed people are not paying any taxes. if we can get employment back and tax revenues will come up and we can get more balance and all get on a path we believe in, instead

of driving my car one more year i will buy a new one. that is the key here. we need a good plan ordinary folks like us can believe in. then we'll spend more money. thht will be good. tracy: bill, real quick, one of the real positives they do have plans to make capital outlays. they do want to get out and buy some stuff. maybe that's something. >> well, they do. 21% said they want to make capital expenditures. if you look at that historically, that s pretty low. we're still at recession levels with that we need to see more capital spending. 55% spent money in the last six months. but that again is historically low. we need more than 5% saying it is a good time to expand. that's what we have right now, 5%. we need to see cap-ex pick up. more hiring, infrastructure would be good all that good stuff. tracy: all that good stuff. bill dunkelberg, tons of good stuff. we'll see you next month. >> thank you. tracy: he said it was one of the worst readings in 40 years. so much for the tick up. ashley: no kidding. a long way to go to get back

to what we considered normal i guess. tracy: exactly. >> coming up next republican congressman darrell issa will tell us what he wants to hear from the president tonight. tracy: a his terry surrounding this year's "sports illustrated" swimsuit cover. we have details ahead. no mystery. ashley: no mystery at all. tracy: we'll look at some winners and losers on the s&p 500 as we head out to break. avon calling up 22%. ashley: ding dong. tracy: we'll be right back.

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don't wait until you become the next victim. you have so much to protect and nothing to lose when you call lifelock now to get two full months of identity theft protection risk free. that's right, 60 days risk-free. use promo code: gethelp. if you're not completely satisfied, notify lifelock and you won't pay a cent. order now and also get this shredder to keepour documents out of the wrong hands-- a $29 dollar value, free. get protected now. call the number on your screen or go to lifelock.com to try lifelock protection risk free for a full 60 days. use promo code: gethelp. plus get this document shredder free-- but only if you act right now. call the number on your screen now! tracy: the doll almost out of the gate at all-time highs. we will go down to nicole

petallides on the floor of the new york stock exchange. jason with her. look at the dow go. nicole: just over 130 points away from the all-time closing high. that is something people with 401(k) and ira like to see the fact we try to take out a new high. something else you are celebrating to a certain extent, what is it? frankly and the market is still holding up. pointing to a much bigger point, the asset classes taking hold. that is really exciting. nicole: not just pushing investors really loving the market, is that what you're saying? >> i would say gaining confidence again, people seem to have abandoned since 2008.

nicole: any names that you want to talk about? >> apple as we have talked about previously had gotten beaten up tremendously from q3 until now. the only reason the s&p was at the level it was. now the s&p has moved to the upside. off to the races. ashley: we are just hours away from president obama's first state of the union address of his second term. many expect the president to be more aggressive tonight challenging republicans on several key issues including the economy and jobs. so how are republicans prepared to respond to the charge which mark joining me now, darrell issa. thank you for joining us.

what are you expecting to hear from the president tonight? >> expect to hear recognition with anemic recovery going on for the last four years stems from instead of reducing taxes and reducing the burden on government, which is typical in a recession, we have piled on new spending and new taxes and it hasn't led to new private sector jobs. my hope is the president wants the legacy of the economy, and getting it done now. ashley: there are thoseewho say without being worried about being reelected, he will be more aggressive, he sees the g.o.p. vulnerable, how would you respond to that? >> the employees cannot find a job, but closer to getting any overtime because there isn't as much work. seeing the profits of the company go up by contract cutting labor is realizing this

is not a recovery the employees participating in and wants to know how they can. if the president wants to be aggressive against republicans, fine, but he has to be for the worker, for the people who do the best job creation is anemic and to change if he had to change the nature of employment in america and the nature of competitiveness around the world, something that didn't happen the last four years has to happen now. the ashley: he won concessions over the debt ceiling debate, is there more compromise available when it comes to this point forward from the republican party? or will they hold firm on spending cuts and tax hikes? >> ashley, basically what was recognized by eric cantor, it is not about the debt ceiling per se, it's about the deficit, the continued spending. and if we're going to make the

american people able to create jobs, we're going to have to lower the rate of growth of spending, also going to have to lower this insane amount of new regulation that is in fact isolating growth, creating opportunity for the employee, and that is what the president has to talk about. i am all for the president talking about caching a new government programs but 40 plus percent of the budget being borrowed, there is no money for new programs, there isn't even enough to cover social security, medicare, medicaid and the national debt service. we run out of money before we run out of entitlements. that's what the backdrop is for tonight's speech. we run out of money before we run out of entitlements. ashley: there's a lot of anticipation about the republican response tonight. from the florida senator marco rubio. what do you hope he can state

>> marco rubio is like a young ronald reagan, he believes in america's greatness, he knows if we can get government out of the way, americans innovate, americans create jobs and can create opportunity for the rest of the world. that is part of what makes him such an optimistic person, somebody who's respons whose ree president wanted more government is no, america wants more liberty, more opportunity they create and i suspect that'll bel be a big part of his response. not saying no to the president, but yes the american taxpayer. ashley: thank you so much for joining us. tracy: some breaking news, oil closing up $0.38, $97.51. that is a rise of one half a percent. oil's second straight game. the president widely expected to call for more government investment to create jobs in the

state of the union address tonight. new figures show lot are benefiting from the government investments in a swarm of lots of government workers. you'd be surprised which states topped the list. liz macdonald here with the other one. i thought we were cutting government jobs. liz: that is right. the latest poll results, 200,000 plus, they found one out of seven americans work for a government, state, local, federal. look at where the most of the government workers are in this country, basically in the darker shaaes of green, so topping the list is of course d.c. following behind, alaska and hawaii. alaska used to top the list, now it is number three. maryland, louisiana and mississippi, alaska has a big oil and gas industry. the state of hawaii huge.

the lighter shades you will see typically in the midwest, they manufacture things and services. the midwest hires the least government workers. when you look at the trend, the question tonight, how many people work for the government, what is going on here. the trend is going down. that is compared to 20.5 million in 2000. even though there is a spike up. it has been moving down. that is the news we are seeing. you know what the other big fear is a part of the government workers, automation. the unions will be fighting any automation, so that is the big trend we ar we're watching, the developing story and those public-sector unions will be fighting any sense to automate their job. one in seven americans work for a government.

usually state or local before the fed. tracy: liz macdonald, good stuff. liz: good perspective. ashley: thank you. a bombshell for the media world, how did "sports illustrated" swimsuit cover get league for the first time ever? dennis kneale all over this story. tracy: i bet. business behind one big party, how new orleans is cashing in on mardi gras. time to look at your 10 and 30-year treasuries. the dow up 60 points read 1.98%, your 30-year moving as well one basis point. we will be right back. impact wool exports from new zealand, textile production in spain, and the use of medical technology in the u.s.? at t. rowe price, we understand the connections of a complex, global economy.

it's just one reason over 75% of our mutual nds beat their 10-year lipper average. twe price. invest with confidence. request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment information, risks, fees and expenses to read and consider carefully before investing. with investment information, risks, fees and expenses he's going to apply testosterone to his undera. axiron, the only underarm treatment for low t, can restore testosterone levels back to normal in most men. axiron is not for use in women or anyone younger than 18. axiron can transfer to others through direct contact. women, especially those who are or who may become pregnant, and children should avoid contact where axiron is applied as unexpected signs of puberty in children or changes in body hair or increased acne in women may occur. report these signs and symptoms to your doctor if they occur. tell your doctor about all medical conditions and medications. do not use if you have prostate or breast cancer. serious side effects could include increased risk of prostate cancer; worsening prostate symptoms; decreased sperm count; ankle, feet, or body swelling; enlarged or painful breasts; problems breathing while sleeping;

and blood clots in the legs. common side effects include skin redness or irritation where applied, increased red blood cell count, headache, diarrhea, vomiting, and increase in psa. see your doctor, and for a 30-day free trial, go to axiron.com. adam: i am adam shapiro with your fox business brief. technology and internet conference today, tim cook was asked if apple would use the cash to use a large acquisition and what the strategy is one buying other companies. speak in terms of large acquisitions, we have looked at large companies. in each case that we have done that thus far it didn't pass our test. adam: intel says the rumors are true, it is developing internet tv service and set top box.

they made the announcement at all things digital event the chipmaker says it is approach the project as an all-in-one solution including live tv and on-demand and apps as well. that is the latest from the fox business network giving you the power to prosper.

ashley: good news, more signs the housing market has turned the corner. late payment rates on mortgages hit a four yea four-year low ine fourth quarter according to credit reporting agency trans union. falling 5.2% from 6% a year earlier. rates have not been this low since the housing crisis in 2008, but a four-year low to live with the rate still above the average historical range of one to 2%. florida leading the nation with the highest delinquency rates followed by nevada, new jersey

and maryland. this is with the lowest, north and south dakota, nebraska and alaska. so there you go, another sign heading into the right direction. tracy: we're getting our houses in order, perhaps the government should do the same. "sports illustrated" annual swimsuit edition out today and the cover girl may bode well for stocks. dennis kneale here to explain this odd correlation. dennis: it is pretty good. "sports illustrated" annual celebration of flesh and bikinis, david letterman had the cover girl last night, kate upton. the american. "sports illustrated" with getting how unobscured fashion blog was able to scoop letterman and post the cover on sunday. making a splash at the right time for "sports illustrated" part of the "time" magazine.

even as the magazine group is cutting 500 jobs. let's get back to curvy kate. this is her second straight year on the swimsui "sports illustra" swimsuit cover. the investment group looked at 35 years of swimsuit issues and found a rather startling difference of how stocks perform when an american girl graces the cover rather than a foreigner. s&p 500 up an average of 15% the year following an american supermodel. half rather than the 11% stocks go up when a non-american takes the lead. when the america american girl , stocks spent 78% of the time in the positive territory.

the czech republic runs second with six covers. as for why a swimsuit cover should lift stocks at all, testosterone, baby. tracy: that is craziness i even did this study and you quoted her anti-twiggy? dennis: she is very hot. tracy: she probably can't buy her own cocktail, she is that young. ashley: really dug deep in that story. time for spoc stocks as we do ey 15 minutes. nicole: i enjoyed the story, lot of stock market stats. let's get to other stock market stats. the earnings season.

we will be covering not stocks to watch. buffalo wild wings up over 4%. and tan your factory outlet center. of course, buffalo wild wings we will keep an eye on that we talked about chicken prices and tanger, talk about demand, are people spending and hitting these stars in these outlets. we will watch both of these things. stay tuned to the 4:00 p.m. show where we will break these up for you as soon as they come out. we will get them right, get them on. back to you. ashley: nicole, thank you very much. tracy: coming up, one money manager shares his tips next. ashley: mardi gras by the

numbers. how much is new orleans biggest party bring in for the big easy. but first, some of the day's winners and losers on the nasdaq. we will be right back.

tracy: investors at or nearing retirement tend to have safer things like fix assets. but bond investments are no longer the way to go. here with three alternatives, jordan waxman, high-powered advisors managing director and

partner. jordan, i'm glad you're here because a lot of people in this situation, but they have been burned so many times. talk to somebody like my mom, been through every bubble you can name and you are going to convince her to go into anything other than bonds. >> thank you for having me, first of all. the same people worry about going to other things are sitting on cash yielding nothing. since 2008 it had a huge run in bonds. everything has returned double-digit win actually bonds are yielding somewhere between 3-8% to 10, to risk you take. double-digit returns since the credit crisis. now all the spreads have collapsed and it is riskier to be in those. tracy: one of your picks are high yield muni bonds. is that a play that the rating agencies behind the eight ball

may not be as high yield as they should be? >> they have portfolios were sometimes half of the securities are not even rated by the agencies. they need to come to market can afford to pay rating agencies but they have to issue invisible bonds. good municipal bond managers, very specialized field of credit research analyst at pore through the balance sheets of municipalities and they apply the ratings they think they ought to achieve and these are yielding on average about 6%. tracy: they are hard to come by, aren't they? >> we are talent scouts, eventually. we take money managers who have long-standing track record, excellent not only returns and processes are terrific. on average these portfolios have

1200 securities immensely average investor can build it for olio. tracy: so many of them are hitting the 52-week highs, are you still getting in them? >> in a slow growth environment, people still have two put bandages on. they still have to brush their teeth and wash their hair. look at the results of consumer product companies that have been terrific. balance sheets, they have cash to buy back their securities, pay higher dividends, they have the flexible it is. those stocks trading 13 times earnings in europe 12 times earnings paying high dividends in the field is to be a multiple expansion. tracy: unfortunately we have to run, we will have to have you back to talk about those. thank you. ashley: all right, let's talk about one of the biggest parties

on earth in full swing down in southern louisiana. mardi gras last day to celebrate before ash wednesday kicks off the season of sacrifice leading up to easter. also on the economic boost in new orleans. more than three week party attracts a million people to the big easy. new orleans 30,000 hotel rooms on 95% booked for mardi gras featuring 70 different parades. if you miss one, don't worry, another one coming around. this made to give new orleans economic boost between 300 300-$900 million every year. that is a wide range. depends on the economy and all sorts of things, $900 million can be generated through mardi gras. tracy: i should go. of course there is ash wednesday, you fast and detox after a week of mardi gras.

ashley: new orleans is such a unique city. it doesn't even look like a city in america. so french, lot of fun. if you get a chance to go down there. tracy: good to see new orleans back after everything they have been through. it makes fasting on ash wednesday so much better. only during the super bowl. liz claman will take you through the last hour of trading. the ceo of hasbro will be talking about their branding. "countdown to the closing bell" is next. dow over 14,000. don't go anywhere. [ male announcer] surprise -- you're having triplets. [ babies crying ] surprise -- your house was built on an ancient burial ground.

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